Ireland 10s to face off for first time in derby

Ireland fly-halves Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley will line up on opposing sides for the first time in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship derby between Leinster and Munster at Croke Park (17:15 BST).

After being rested last week, Prendergast and Crowley return for Leinster and Munster in the last game for both before Ireland’s opening autumn Test against the All Blacks in Chicago on 1 November.

Prendergast is named in a strong Leinster team that features seasonal debuts for British and Irish Lions Jack Conan, James Ryan, Jamison Gibson-Park and Garry Ringrose.

Two more Lions – Dan Sheehan and Andrew Porter – are named on the bench.

Prop Paddy McCarthy, who was called up to the Ireland squad on Wednesday, is named in the front row alongside Tadhg Furlong and Ronan Kelleher.

South Africa international RG Snyman returns to the second row in his first outing of the season.

Crowley returns as one of Munster boss Clayton McMillan’s 10 changes from last week’s win over Edinburgh, with captain Tadhg Beirne also back after starring in the Lions’ series win over Australia in the summer.

Second row Edwin Edogbo, who will travel to the US with the Ireland squad but is not officially part of the squad, makes his first start since December 2023, while Shane Daly, Thaakir Abrahams, Dan Kelly and Ethan Coughlan join Crowley in returning to the backline.

Leinster: J Osborne; T O’Brien, G Ringrose; R Henshaw, J Lowe; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; P McCarthy, R Kelleher, T Furlong; RG Snyman, J Ryan; A Soroka, J van der Flier, J Conan (capt).

Replacements: D Sheehan, A Porter, T Clarkson, B Deeny, M Deegan, S Penny, F Gunne, C Frawley.

Munster: S Daly; A Smith, T Farrell, D Kelly, T Abrahams; J Crowley, E Coughlan; M Milne, D Barron, J Ryan; E Edogbo, F Wycherley; T Beirne (capt), J O’Donoghue, B Gleeson.

When Farrell departed on his Lions sabbatical, Prendergast was Ireland’s starting fly-half, having usurped Crowley during last year’s autumn Tests.

Crowley had inherited the shirt from Johnny Sexton and played every minute of Ireland’s triumphant 2024 Six Nations campaign.

But after a strong start to his first Six Nations, Prendergast struggled in the defeat by France and dropped to the bench behind Crowley for the final game against Italy.

Farrell did not bring either player on the Lions tour, and while they each started one Ireland game over the summer, routine wins over Georgia and Portugal most probably will not shape the head coach’s thinking for the All Blacks game in Chicago on 1 November.